Peri-intraventricular Hemorrhage Research Articles

Neurosonographic and biochemical correlates of periventricular leukomalacia in low-birth-weight infants.

The incidence of periventricular leukomalacia (PVL) was investigated by ultrasound in a group of 119 consecutively scanned low-birth-weight infants during a period of 3 years. The overall incidence of PVL was 6.7% while the incidence of peri-intraventricular hemorrhage was 44.5%. Ultrasound evidence of posthemorrhagic lesions was seen early and related strongly to follow-up findings. Evidence of cystic degeneration appeared later. The presence of PVL was confirmed by computed tomography at 5 months of age and anticipated by serial measurements of creatine kinase brain isoenzyme performed in the first 60 h of life. A significant correlation was observed between neurosonographic findings of PVL and high cord blood values of enzymatic pattern (p less than 0.02). Both were correlated with poor neurodevelopmental outcome at 12 months corrected age.

Incidence of retinopathy of prematurity in low birth weight infants with peri-intraventricular hemorrhage.

Data from 80 high-risk low birth infants were analysed to determine whether there is a clinical association between Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) and Peri-Intraventricular Hemorrhages (PIVH) in preterm newborns. Diagnosis of retinopathy was made by retinal examination at approximately four weeks of age. All infants were routinely and repeatedly scanned by real-time ultrasound to diagnose the presence of Peri-Intraventricular Hemorrhages. PIVH was clearly present in 41 (51.2%) of them, whereas 39 (48.7%) infants had no evidence of intracerebral bleeding. We found no statistically significant association between cicatricial retinopathy and PIVH (P = 0.1). We suppose therefore, that the sensitivity of retinal vasculature and cerebral vasculature to the various factors considered to be important in the development of PIVH is different.

Correlation of raised cord-blood CK-BB and the development of peri-intraventricular hemorrhage in preterm infants.

This study concerns the prognostic value of total cord-blood CK-BB activity measured with a new method in preterm infants at risk of PIVH. Twenty-six patients with gestational age less than 36 weeks were studied. The presence of PIVH was proved by either ultrasound scans or autopsy. Total CK-BB values in cord-blood of infants who developed PIVH were significantly higher than those of patients without cerebral bleeding (P less than 0.001).